Y Ddolen Linking the Puget Sound Welsh Community Hydref/Tachwedd/Rhagfyr 2018 Visit www.pugetsoundwelsh.org October/November/December Y Ddolen /The Link is a quarterly newsletter for the Puget Sound Welsh Association ELP ANTED NEEDS YOU UPCOMING WELSH EVENTS IN THE PNW H W :PSWA ! Friday 21 September -7:00PM ~ QuizNight -by Joel Ware, IV (Editor pro tempore) November 2-4 Welsh Weekend and Gymanfa (1) Editor to prepare these quarterly issues of Y Vancouver (BC) Welsh Society: Red Dragon Pub, Ddolen. The Editor: Monitors email for Cambrian Hall, Vancouver BC www.welshsociety.com articles; solicit articles to fill gaps; assembles Sunday, October 14th 2PM-6PM content; emails newsletter in PDF and .DOCX formats to Board. (See: President’s Letter) PSWA AGM/Noson Lawen Joel’s place: RSVP: (206) 250-5950 (2) Folk Festival Booth Support. Booth Supporters organize printed materials, Sunday September 30th 10:00AM Welsh Christianity interpretative displays, volunteers, and Workshop with Dr Kit Kapphah merchandise, performing setup/takedown December 9th 2:00pm - Lessons and Carols and direct attendee interaction. (See: Bryn Seion Welsh Church: 22132 S. Kamrath Road, Beavercreek, OR 97004 www.brynseionwelshchurch.org Highland Games) (3) Board Member or two. Board members attend occasional telecons, raise funds, and October date tbd , South Sound Night Out of Hwyl Noson guide the general affairs of the Association. Lawen, Tipsy Tomato, Tacoma, WA (See: President’s Letter) (4) St. David’s Day. Event Planning and Saturday, October 6th potluck 12:30PM, program production (See: St. David’s Day) 1:00PM: Welsh Stick Chairs, A History and Family Legacy - Welsh Society of Oregon www.portlandwelsh.org Questions? Please contact: Sunday November 11th, 6PM-8PM South Sound Night Out [email protected] . of Hwyl- Elmer's Tacoma Sunday, December 2nd 3PM-8PM: Christmas Party Board Members & Elected Officers: Mary Lynne’s house: 8043 28th Ave NE, Seattle WA. MaryLynne Evans: President – [email protected] Sunday. December 9th 4PM-7PM South Sound Night Out Laura Lovell: Vice-President – [email protected] Group’s Annual Christmas Party - Elmer's Tacoma. Ellen Webber: Treasurer/Membership Secretary – [email protected] / Saturday, February 9th, 2019 2PM-5PM Gymanfa Ganu, [email protected] Grace Lutheran Church, Des Moines, WA. Karyn Davies: Secretary/Events/South Sound Night Out – [email protected] / [email protected] / nd [email protected] / Saturday, March 2 , 2019 (tentative): St. David’s Day [email protected] Celebration. Location/time TBD. Gerri Parry: Archives/Member-At-Large – [email protected] Labor Day weekend 2019, North American Festival of Joel Ware IV: Newsletter/Member-At-Large – Wales (NAFOW), Milwaukee WI [email protected] Y Ddolen Oct/Nov/Dec 2018 Page 1 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Hello Dear PSWA Members, I am happy to report to you more good news about PSWA: 1. We had a very successful Summer Picnic (see Picnic Report below) and had a great time. Thanks to all who participated. For more fun details, read Laura’s Picnic Report. 2. We are moving forward with exciting plans for the Mari Lwyd this year, to be assembled at the AGM! and Wassail Taste-Off (see Personal Invitation, below) 3. We were ably represented at the Highland Games, booth staffed by Karyn and Malcolm Davies (see article) They have done this yeoman service for many years, and are retiring. Diolch yn fawr, Malcolm and Karyn! 4. Sarah Zenger, our longtime newsletter editor, starts graduate school this Fall. Thank You, Sarah, Best Wishes! Our thanks also to Joel Ware, IV who is stepping in as editor pro tempore for this issue. Thank You, Joel! And we are looking for a new Editor: The Editor collects articles and pictures, may write some material, and edits and formats the newsletter which comes out four times a year. The board members strongly support the newsletter - they contribute articles, help proofread, print it and ship in both email and snail mail format. Please contact Mary Lynne or Joel if you have ideas or are interested: [email protected] 5. Two positions are open on the board. Our board meets quarterly, and usually by conference call, so you may attend in your jammies with your own coffee. The board is the core of our organization and while the job is not all-consuming in time, resources or talent, it does require a love of our Welsh culture and heritage and a willingness to help on major events. The rewards are many – the undying respect of other board members, the knowledge you are perpetuating important cultural knowledge, music and poetry, and much fun and laughter. Please contact Mary Lynne if you might be interested in talking more about this opportunity: [email protected] Pob Hwyl! See you soon! Mary Lynne Evans, President YOUR PERSONAL INVITATION FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Members of PSWA (and friends), YOU ARE PERSONALLY INVITED TO Mari Lwyd Crafting, Wassail Taste-Off and Annual Welsh Christmas Party Annual General Meeting with Noson Lawen When: Sunday, October 14th 2PM-6PM When: Sunday, December 2nd 3PM-8PM 2:00 pm light potluck & annual meeting 3:00 pm on Mari Lwyd Crafting and Wassail, etc. Where: Mary Lynne’s 8043 28th Ave NE, the Where: Joel’s place in Serene: Wedgwood neighborhood, in Seattle 98115. 4904 154th St SW, Edmonds, WA 98026 RSVP (206) 525 5864. The house is on a cul de RSVP (206) 250-5950 for driving hints sac, so I encourage you to use Google Maps. What: Host provides hors d’oeuvres, libations, coffee, What: It is a potluck. The wassail bowl will be filled. tea. You bring a side dish, salad or dessert to share and Those of us inside the house will be prepared if any other beverages you choose. (when) the Mari Lwyd makes a (not really) surprise visit. Bring hymnals! ALSO: Bring your favorite Wassail for the Taste-Off We will hold a brief business meeting while we eat, We will stand where the veil is the thinnest and followed by Mari Lwyd crafting, and a Wassail Taste-Off welcome in the magical Winter Season. to select the PSWA Official Wassail. Questions? Please contact: AND: Bring your hymnals and contributions of music, [email protected] poetry, or stories for Noson Lawen Y Ddolen Oct/Nov/Dec 2018 Page 2 INVITATION continued What is all this about??? Probably a little note of explanation is in order here. Read on! The Mari Lwyd is performed between Christmas and New Year’s, when the world can be topsy turvy. Servants become master and vice versa, apples can intoxicate, and animals can speak. During this time, Mari Lwyd and her entourage of revelers knock on doors asking for food and wassail. Through a battle of wits and song, the Mari gains entrance to the houses. The Mari is wild, fun and a little scary. Its entourage is also strange: a man in drag, a fiddler, the horse’s guide, Punch and Judy characters, and several singers. I first encountered the tale about five years ago. Entranced with it, I researched everything I could find. There was not much written on it, and what was, was frustratingly contradictory. Some of my Welsh friends had never heard of the tradition and doubted its existence. But I had help from the Vancouver Welsh Society, Dr. Atone Minard and Ruth Baldwin confirmed its existence in South Wales and told me some stories. And my real breakthrough came just one month ago when I attended the Welsh National Eisteddfod, in Cardiff. A bookseller there verified the lack of written material on the Mari. But one of his customers spent an hour with me telling how his village produced it. His friends, a fiddler and singer, sang the songs for me into my phone. And the Archdruid of the entire festival blessed our efforts when I told him of our society’s plans. As my last step in this journey, I was told I could not stage the Mari unless we had wassail and a proper wassail bowl. The only place to get the bowl was the Ewenny pottery shop, 20 miles outside Cardiff. The Ewenny potters, a twelfth generation shop, make the authentic bowls, modeled after one from 1300’s. Inside the famous shop was a wassail bowl, for a mere 300 British pounds sterling. After talking earnestly to the shop manager, I secured a cheaper but no less impressive wassail bowl. Getting the weighty, yet fragile pottery piece home to Seattle via car, train, airplane and trolley is another story for another day. But bowl arrived safely on September 3rd. Our association now has 1. Blessings from the Archdruid and help from many wonderful people including authentic recordings of these old old songs. 2. Access to one official wassail bowl ( See photo, right:) 3. One kit for making the crazy Mari Lwyd horse figure 4. Laura Lovell, our vice president, getting the music and the Welsh words ready for us to learn so we can properly perform the tradition 5. Two events scheduled for celebrating this piece of tomfoolery. So again, you are cordially invited to attend our events. They will be unique, fun, and authentic! Hope to see you at the combination AGM/ Make a Mari / Wassail Taste-Off / Nosen Lawen, Oct. 14th, 2018 at Joel’s house, and the Christmas potluck/Meet the Mari/Wassailing Party, Dec. 2nd, 2018 at Mary Lynne’s house. Bring hymnals! RSVP’s are helpful! Y Ddolen Oct/Nov/Dec 2018 Page 3 Welsh National Eisteddfod - August 2018 -by Mary Lynne Evans The largest most important cultural festival for the Country of Wales tried a new approach in 2018. Usually held in rural areas in a large field with tents, fenced and requiring an entry fee, Eisteddfod 2018 was held at the Millennial Center on the Cardiff waterfront where sailors from Africa, Europe and Asia arrived and put down roots.